Each Situation
by Trunks lil' sis
Summary: Carson Beckett knows Rodney McKay attracts the trouble, but he can’t help wondering which situation it’ll be today. BeckettMcKay


Title: Each Situation

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Carson Beckett knows Rodney McKay attracts the trouble, but he can't help wondering which situation it'll be today. Beckett/McKay

Author's Warnings: Not Beta'd

Each Situation:

Carson Beckett found out the hard way just how absolutely ridiculously easy it was to determine when the next medical emergency would happen. There were three really ironically similar situations that usually spurred an emergency call to the infirmity, and predictably enough, they usually involved Rodney McKay in some form or another.

Sheppard and his team had left early that morning for a routine food replenishment mission. After an unfortunate accident had resulted in contamination of their current supply a recovery mission was top priority. Carson understood the necessity, especially with Atlantis' expanding population, but he couldn't help the clenching feeling in the pit of his stomach. That was always situation number one.

Rodney might have been going to visit Mother Teresa, or Pope John Paul II and Carson still had no doubt the wayward scientist would find some way to get into trouble. Trouble just seemed attracted to Rodney for whatever reason. Maybe Rodney's intelligence was only truly rivaled by his lack of common sense in dangerous situations. Yes, he was improving and the primary objective of self-preservation he once had was dissipating, but the man could still miss the most blatant things. Trouble was always complicated with Rodney and while Carson trusted John Sheppard to look out for the scientist, a number of other unaccounted variables always tried their hardest to intervene with that protection.

Situation one had Rodney coming back with injuries. Either peace negotiations had turned violent and the team had been caught in the middle, or some rouge terrorist managed to involve Rodney in his plots. Occasionally when visiting a somewhat advanced civilization or at least with the technology know-how, Rodney's importance was realized. Rodney could be awfully arrogant and snappy, but he was intelligent, and that knowledge carried him a far way. Most people recognized the importance of Rodney's mind, especially the bad guys.

So all of those situations usually resulted in Rodney being injured, commonly mid to severe. It could range from as mild as a paper cut to as horrible as a bullet wound. Carson had dealt with both, including deadly allergic reactions, internal injuries and concussions all the way back to the Milky Way.

If Rodney and John were having a little friendly competition Carson was not amused. Rodney was up on John by at least two visits to the infirmary resulting in hostile activity, and Carson could only hope this would encourage Rodney to take measures preventing returning so soon injured. He couldn't quite remember when he had started keeping count, but Rodney certainly had his own infirmary bed, and the sheets had been replaced fresh that morning.

Carson liked situation two just a tad bit more. At least with the second one he had more control of the situation and easier access to his patient. In the second scenario Rodney or John or occasionally the unlucky Aiden was caught affected by an alien or ancient device. The Gods knew just how much Rodney liked to tinker with anything foreign to him. Sometimes his interested in these things took president over their dangerous aspects and that was never good.

So Rodney's lack of ability to pull himself away from the unknown and examine it before carelessly launching himself into his work resulted most often in situation two. How many times had Rodney lost consciousness or had a half a million other things happen to him? Too many for Carson. If he had his way, Rodney McKay would be locked in his lab with sufficient supervision and without any dangerous artifacts. However they needed Rodney to get them home, and since working with alien devices did provide their number one chance, Carson's plan was left in the dust. And of course because everything was potentially dangerous, Carson couldn't stop the infirmary visits.

The final medical emergency, situation three, was thankfully less violent. It happened when Rodney was being Rodney. When the all too smart man lost himself in his work and forgot even the simples needs. Rodney's hypoglycemia was nothing to take lightly, and too often Carson found himself treating his friend for the early stages of a bad reaction. It hardly ever progressed to a very dangerous level, but each time Rodney looked at him with dull, vapid eyes and Carson took his too low blood pressure, that clenching in his stomach tightened just a little more. Situation three was just as dangerous as the pervious two before it, but Carson would take it any day over brain hemorrhaging.

John Sheppard and his team had left hours ago and Carson was waiting, having treated Brown's mildly burned hand and Cooper's migraine.

The medical alert was coming, and everyone on the current medical shift knew it. Kelly Bowers, Carson's head nurse was shuffling impatiently from one side of the room to the other. The deathlike grip on her clipboard betrayed her neutral face, and she wasn't the only one. Sam Kotes appeared to be entering valuable patient data into a nearby laptop but on closer inspection the screen showed mindless numbers in random sequences. And Hannah Urbin's nails were biting into her palm. They all were expecting something to happen, and the nervous tension in the room would only grow until it did.

Carson, as the ranking senior medical doctor tried not to let his personal feelings in the way of that morning's work. As a doctor he always needed to be on his feet, and dwelling on a person who was completely out of his hands wasn't beneficial for anyone. He tried to keep busy by cleaning, cataloging and taking care of even the smallest, insignificant injuries, but his mind continued to wander. His palms became sweaty every time Rodney stepped through an event horizon.

By the time lunch rolled around Carson hadn't managed much, but he was occupying his time at his laptop and accomplishing some work. If anything the uneasy in the infirmary had doubled as the halfway mark of the day was reached. Any minute, Carson assumed, any minute.

He was examining notes and research in his office when the alarms did sound. Weir's voice came over the radio so suddenly his unusual perch on the edge of the chair had him suddenly crashing down to the floor with a thud. But he only paused a moment before he was back on his feet and rushing out of the infirmary, the best doctors and nurses on his trail.

He slapped a hand to his radio. "What's the situation?"

Weir crackled back over the radio. "We've got serious injuries, Carson. Get here as soon as you can." Carson frowned and motioned for his younger associates to jog faster.

"How bad and who?"

There was an awful lot of sound distortion coming over the radio and Carson could clearly hear Elizabeth Weir having quick words other multiple people. Then he caught low grunts with someone counting loudly.

"We're attempting resuscitation on Major Sheppard, and McKay looks to have some internal injuries." Bates' voice took over, gasping in short increments. "Get here now."

Thirty seconds later Carson and his team came tearing around the corner, getting their first look at the bruised and battered team.

Around this time Carson realized he couldn't always be there for Rodney. He couldn't protect the man and he couldn't keep the monsters away. He couldn't stop the injuries or the pain or anything else that came from field work. Even more he couldn't ask Rodney not to leave Atlantis, because he couldn't stand it if Rodney's spirit died.

The most he could do was keep the infirmary up and ready, and hope situation three came up more than one and two.

Oh, and he could love Rodney, just as much and he knew he was loved in return.


End file.
